The NCAA’s attempt to obtain an Indiana Appeals Court emergency stay of the preliminary injunction against the organization granted to IU football’s Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, and IU basketball’s Sam Alexis, has been denied.
That means all three players and a total of 97 student athletes in the case remain eligible to compete.
The NCAA is appealing Monroe County Circuit Court judge Kara Krothe’s preliminary injunction against it, and in so doing had attempted to stay the injunction until the appeal could be heard and ruled upon.
On Friday, the Indiana Court of Appeals ordered the NCAA’s emergency motion for the stay “is denied.”
By deciding to not stay the lower court ruling, the Appeals Court is signaling, among other things, that it does not believe the NCAA will suffer irreparable harm by allowing the athletes to compete before it rules, and also that the NCAA is not likely to succeed on appeal.
Daley, Wyatt and Alexis are all class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their college eligibility during the 2025-26 athletic year. The 2022 class was not included in the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule passed this summer. Their exclusion from the rule triggered a wave of lawsuits across the nation, including the Indiana case.
The NCAA has argued in multiple cases it will suffer irreparable harm by allowing class of 2022 athletes to compete because their participation would take roster spots away from other eligible athletes.
But Daley, Wyatt and Alexis have not replaced anyone on their respective teams. No IU football or basketball players have been removed to make space for them.
This latest court ruling is likely to keep Daley, Wyatt and Alexis eligible for a while. It is unclear when the Appeals Court will hear and rule on the case. But until such time, all three remain eligible.
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